Bullet of Revenge

When PI Frank Hummer takes on a new case to help a woman in distress, he soon finds himself in a web of lies and deception. Ghosts from the past reach out toward him, demanding atonement for the things he committed a decade ago, things he tried hard to forget.

Excerpt

Frank Hummer watched the couple coming through the doors into the shopping mall. The man was middle-aged, a little heavier around the middle than he should have been; the woman about ten years younger in appearance, nice figure, her auburn hair falling in gentle waves down to her shoulders, her eyes rimmed with dark eyeliner. She appeared elegant and brimming with confidence. They stopped in front of a shoe store and walked inside. He came back out a few minutes later and headed for one of the benches in the mall, looking bored. His eyes met Hummer’s for a quick moment. He nodded, lifted his hands with a shrug of his shoulders and said, “Women! They can never make up their minds.” Then he sat down, crossing his legs, obviously getting ready for a long wait.

Hummer smiled as he sipped his coffee. He wasn’t married, but he knew men hated going shopping with their wives at the best of times, and looking for shoes could not classify as one of the most exciting shopping trips.

His attention was brought again to the wide doors when he saw a couple of burly men in white suits and a woman, also in a white uniform, coming into the mall. They looked around for a moment then headed straight for the man on the bench.

He looked up as the trio approached him. Hummer wasn’t particularly interested in what he saw, but something in the two burly men’s behavior kept him watching.

“Can I help you?” the man on the bench asked.

One of the two men in white suits smiled. “Hello, Harry. It’s time to go home?”

“What?” the man asked, obviously taken by surprise.

“Don’t make a fuss, Harry. Let’s go!” Both of the white-suited men grabbed the man and pulled him up.

The man struggled in their grip and called out, “Let go of me, you morons. What do you think you’re doing?”

“Now, now, Harry,” said the woman. “Be a good boy and come without causing a disturbance. You wouldn’t want me to stick a needle into you, would you? I know how you hate needles.”

“What the hell are you talking about? You must have me confused with someone else. Let go of my arms!”

“Harry, Harry. The same thing happened the last time when you walked away. You remember the last time?” The woman’s voice sounded patronizing.

“There was no such thing as the last time,” the man shouted. He squirmed and looked about for help. “Somebody call the police. These people are molesting me.”

“Shut up!” one of the two orderlies snapped. “We’ll have to subdue you if you don’t behave and it won’t be pleasant.”

Hummer noticed a few people stopping and turning heads, but most people seemed to be more annoyed about the commotion than what was actually happening.

Looks like some lunatic escaped again. He appears quite normal, but appearances can be deceiving. I wonder who that woman is. Maybe they weren’t even together. He may have just assumed in his crazy mind she was his wife.

The two men in white dragged the struggling and shouting man toward the doors. They almost reached the doors when the auburn-haired woman came out of the shoe store. She obviously saw the four people but didn’t pay any attention, only when the man shouted, “Let go of me!” she stopped walking and turned around.

Then she screamed, “Harry, what’s going on?”

“Call the police, Helen!” the man yelled, struggling to get free from the men who held him.